Roadshow: It takes me 15 minutes to get to I-880, and I can see it from my house

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A section of Stevenson Boulevard is closed to traffic, as crews install a temporary bridge so construction can continue on a tunnel for the Warm Springs BART extension, in Fremont, Calif., on Dec. 28, 2010. There will be two additional closures to complete the bridge work. (Anda Chu/Staff)

Q Warren Avenue in Fremont is still not open. Combined with Grimmer being reduced to one lane westbound, Mission Boulevard all torn up and looking like a bobsled ride, Dixon Landing reduced to one lane each way, Warm Springs north to Grimmer under construction — it now takes over 20 minutes to get to the post office at Grimmer and Fremont Boulevard. It takes over 15 minutes for me just to get to 880! And I can see it from my backyard!

Sorry to vent, but this is getting old.

Mark Kentgen

Fremont

A I bet. I pity folks like Mark who live in the BART construction zone and you need dose of good news. VTA says it is getting very close to opening Warren any day.

Q Something has been bugging me for a few weeks. For the past year or two, there’s been a significant amount of construction in Mountain View on Evelyn Avenue between Highway 85 and the Caltrain station. Evelyn has been reduced to one westbound lane for much of that stretch.

Here’s the problem. The light at Calderon Avenue lasts an eternity and is poorly timed, which means that Evelyn traffic backs up beneath 85 in the morning. This causes people to miss Caltrain as they commute to San Francisco. Count me among them. So I have two suggestions:

Adjust the Calderon light so that it allows for more Evelyn traffic to pass through during each cycle. And have a police officer or some sort of flag waving gentleman to wave cars through the intersection from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Nate Johnson

A More good news. The contractor will remove the concrete barriers before Labor Day. Once this is done, there will be two westbound lanes again. The traffic signal can also return to normal which will improve cars moving through this intersection and should eliminate any backup that may be experienced now.

Q My God, when is something good going to happen to “The Alameda”? You know the area I mean south of I-880? Could you let us know which decade we can come back?

Bill Sampson

A Paving was to be underway by now, but construction crews found a soft clay base underneath the road, had to stop work and determine a new design. Work should resume any day and be done by Labor Day.

Q What’s up at Orinda BART? They’ve been retrofitting over a year and now it looks like work has stopped.

Paul Cuneo

Moraga

A The earthquake retrofitting should be completed this month.

Q Do you know what is happening to steel from the old Bay Bridge?

June Carroll

Oakland

A Some of it is being recycled at Schnitzer Steel’s plant in Oakland. Up next will be the dismantling of the truss section of the old east span and that steel will likely go to the Oakland Museum of California to be distributed to artists and organizations for artistic purposes.

Gary Richards has covered traffic and transportation in the Bay Area as Mr. Roadshow since 1992. Prior to that he was an assistant sports editor at the paper from 1984-1987. He started his journalism career as a sports editor in Iowa in 1975.

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